WARNING: THIS IS NOT A REVIEW!

Gosh, I love movies! You don’t even wanna know how much, seriously. It’s almost corny how much I love movies. I just figure that a guy who loves movies half as much as I do, ought to do a hub dedicated to movies; and to show just how much I love movies, I won’t just be talking about movies; but I’ll be talking about the directors who made the movies!

Now, as most aspiring directors, I have a long list of directors who I admire, and those who I follow their work with fervency, as well as with all scrutiny. Yes, scrutiny, I’m not like one of those fans who follow a dude just for following sake – like a frigging mindless zombie, not me! I tend to think for myself, and I try to understand what the hell is going on in the mind of a director, and why the hell he chose to do something in a movie, the way he did it. A lot of people think film directors are eccentric madmen. No, they’re not. They just need a lil’ bit of love and understanding like everybody else, huh...who the hell I’m I kidding, lol.

Hey! Just before I start, I don’t want anyone to get any wrong ideas like I’m gonna give a frigging autobiography (or in this case, videography) on these directors, no way! If you want that kinda boring stuff, go to IMDb.com (no spite intended); and no spoilers either; but if you want the really cool yarn about film directors, with a nice spin to it; as well as a reliable recommendation (based on years of expertise in the field) on movies that you gotta see - well, fellas, you have come to the right place.

So fans, hubbers, movie buffs and visitors from across the world, brace yourself for a jolly ride into the fantastical, and often demented, but nonetheless cool world of film directors...LET’S GO!

Sam Raimi (Also a producer/writer/actor)

This guy is my man, for real. I watched Evil Dead as a kid, and there and then I decided that I was gonna make movies. Why? ‘cause the movie scared me so damn much then, and I wanted to scare other people the same way I was scared. It was that black and white for me then. Of course I didn’t know who Sam Raimi was till years later, but one thing I knew was that I wanted his job, bad!

Sam Raimi likes humour, however dark. He could be playing a Charlie Chaplin like kind of score in the background, while someone is being beaten to death with a shovel. He likes provocative violent shots (like any good horror director should); and uses blood and gore make-up effects a bit too extravagantly. But it works for him, though.

My favourite Sam Raimi movies are the Evil Dead Trilogy (naturally), The Quick and the Dead, Darkman, Spider-Man 1, 2, 3 and Drag Me To Hell.

The Evil Dead Trilogy (Horror)

Evil Dead (1981) was about his fourth directorial project, but it was huge. Did pretty well at the box office, too. And you wouldn’t believe it; the movie was made with a meager budget of $50,000! That just inspires me, you have no idea!

The thing that made Evil Dead so special for most fans of the horror genre was its rawness. It wasn’t synthetic at all. The movie had virtually no visual effects in it, and yet it was still scary. Evil Dead is a great example that a horror flick can be done without visual effects and still make it scary as hell. (I’m sure the makers of The Blair Witch Project learnt a lot from there)Another great thing about Evil Dead is that, unlike most horror movies, you never really get to see any monster or creature perpetrating the evil; but you sure as hell see the effects of the Evil. In the entire movie, all you see is the screen chasing the victim, as they run for their lives, while looking back each time. That stuff killed me. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987) and Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness (1992)featured that screen stuff, too. Evil Dead 2 was pretty scary too, but you could see that they had pumped up their budget with better visual and make-up effects. Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness was completely out of the box, and was set in medieval times. This effort was more in the lines of the horror-comedy genre. Of course, Sam Raimi has always been known to spice up his tales with a bit of dark comedy. I mean, you really have to have a great sense of humour to laugh at stuff from a Sam Raimi movie, no kidding. Like check this, the scene in Evil Dead 2 where the lead character played by Bruce Campbell got fed up with all the horrors going on in the cabin house that he just went bonkers, and started laughing like a madman! As he laughed even the damn decorations on the wall started laughing with him. That stuff knocked me out big time! But a lot of people wouldn’t find that funny, though.

The crazy thing about Evil Dead is that everything starts from a book. The Necronomicon (translated to mean the Book of the Dead), a book supposedly written ages ago (the concept started with H.P. Lovecraft, the master of terror) by the Dark One (being the Devil) himself; the book was supposed to serve as a passageway to the evil world beyond. And this book was written long ago when the seas of the world ran red with blood, and it was this blood that was used to ink the Necronomicon; but sometime in the year 1300 AD the book disappeared. Eerie, huh! This here year is where we find Evil Dead 3 takes off from, as Bruce Campbell is sucked into a vortex created by the book into medieval times.

The Evil Dead Trilogy remain classic in my book. And wherever a history on horror is documented, you can be sure that a nice section will be dedicated to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead.

Note: Look out for Evil Dead 4...can’t wait!

Darkman (1990) Horror/Sci-Fi

Liam Neeson starred in this movie as a Scientist whose lab was blown up with him in it, due to some big-time corporate scheme manoeuvred to take him out of the scene. He doesn’t die, but instead has all his skin all burnt up. He loses his lab, his girlfriend, everything. So what else is a guy gonna do, but seek for revenge, huh! Fortunately for him, he’s smart as hell so he utilizes his scientific skill to create facial masks of all the people that killed him...Hey, I’m not doing any spoilers, but just giving you a background of the whole thing. The thing that was special to me about Darkman apart from the fact the Liam Neeson totally killed that role – awesome actor, was the manner with which Sam Raimi created a depth for the guy’s pain and suffering. Not only was this guy physically scarred, but he was mentally messed up as well. You would even find yourself cheering the guy on as he goes on his revenge killing spree, no kidding.

My best part in the movie is the part where he creates this facial mask of his face, so he can go on a date with his girlfriend at a Carnival. But the thing though with those facial masks is that he has barely minutes before the stuff just melts over his face; so all the while he’s with his chick, he keeps checking the damn time on his stupid watch. So his girl keeps asking him why the hell he’s so damn fidgety every time he’s with her. Anyway, fast forward, there comes a part where he decides to play a game where you win one of those stuffed animals. You know, he wants to give it to his girl and all. Then he starts playing and wins, but here’s what happens. The guy in charge wouldn’t give him his stuffed animal, he asks the guy for his damn stuffed animal again and again, but the guy was as calm as the evening breeze in his resistance, and even goes as far as poking my man on his chest. Can you believe that! Anyway, my homeboy blows a fuse and snaps the guy’s stupid finger. I mean, just breaks it. The dude is horrified, not to mention in pain. My homeboy’s girlfriend is horrified as well, and to make matters worse his face is peeling like mad, so he scrambles the hell off! I love that part.

The thing that killed me most about it was before my guy blew his lid off, the camera sort of panned into Liam Neeson’s face, and behind him instead of the crowd and the entire carnival, was fire. If that isn’t great directing, NOTHING IS! You gotta see that movie if you haven’t.

The Quick and the Dead (1995) Western

I’m truly crazy about this movie. I’m really not into cowboy movies – with the exception of classics like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and of course, Young Guns.

A lot of people thought it was a bit weird giving Sam Raimi a western movie to direct, but he proved them wrong. In fact, Sam Raimi recreated the Western movie genre in the The Quick and the Dead. No kidding. Not only did the movie have a superb cast – Russell Crowe, Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio – but the movie is full of shoot ‘em up action, and cool gun slinging moves, just like you would expect from any good cowboy movie.

Recently, I had to go buy the DVD, just to add it to my collection. It’s just one of those movies that you gotta have, and I’m not shooting the bull here.

Gosh, you’ve gotta see Sharon Stone in this movie. Not like you’ve seen her before. She’s this gun-slinging cowgirl out to revenge the town sheriff (Gene Hackman) for the death of her father. Her performance in the movie is something that ought to be seen. Russel Crowe plays an old time badass, which becomes a priest to escape his bloody past, but is forced by the town Sheriff to take part in the gun duelling contest. Crowe as expected doesn’t disappoint as well. You know, the Sheriff believes he’s the only real competition that he has. DiCaprio is the Sheriff’s son, who has long been living under his father’s shadow, trying to impress his old man with his shooting skills.

One thing I really liked about this movie is how different cowboy characters are introduced in the movie. Every cowboy in the movie thinks he’s a badass and believes he’ll be the last man standing. As the gun duelling competition starts you actually find yourself picking your favourite shooters. It’s a fun movie, no doubt. Sam Raimi totally killed it!

Spider-Man 1, 2, 3 (Sci-Fi/Fantasy)

With great power comes great responsibility. Great line from a great movie.

Who doesn’t like the friendly neighbourhood Spidie! Slinging webs from his wrists all through the skyscrapers of Manhattan.

Just think about it, after over a decade they finally had the technology and the know-how to make a befitting Spiderman movie, and who did they think of as the director? In all of Hollywood they picked my man, Sam Raimi! What an honour! What recognition of skill, yea what acknowledgement of ability!

I think they made a great choice too, and to let him come back to do all the sequels shows that he did something right. I think Sam Raimi directing Spiderman (2002) was the final proof of the Director’s proficiency and dynamism as a director. But we still find that in developing the persona of the villains in the movie, he surreptitiously delves back to his horror roots. Like for instance, as the spirit of Norman Osborn (Green Goblin) taking possession of his son, Harry in Spiderman 2 (2004). That stuff is more horror-like than superhero-like. Or in Spiderman 3 (2007) when the Venom is introduced; we see Sam Raimi utilizing prolific shots to depict possession by the Venom as it alters Peter Parker’s personality, from the nice guy he was, to an egocentric douche bag.

I love Sam Raimi’s cinematographic vision; his ability not just to make great action sequences, but to create depth for the characters of a movie, and put you in their shoes. He even makes you sympathize with the bad guys in his movies. You almost always understand where they are coming from. If that isn’t great directing, NOTHING IS!

Spiderman 4 is still in the works and guess who’s directing...? Your guess is good.